DIY lightbox

MissB

I am looking into doing some commercial photography...more like commercial and product. However I am broke as all get out... and need to suffice with home good old DIY. I need to create a small product light box...any expierence doing this..suggestions appreciated! Thank you!

Becky

davev

Trying watching this, it may give you an idea or two.

http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/04/28/episode-6/

MissB

davev wrote:

Trying watching this, it may give you an idea or two.

http://www.prophotolife.com/2008/04/28/episode-6/

really interesting video on lighting...it is neat to see how different types of light affect the image differently. The setup is pretty creative also...but a bit too complicated for what I have in mind. Thank you so much for the suggestion tho

Cygnus Studios

I use something similar to this at home:

ChrisJ

Pretty cheap...

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=87337&highlight=light

Chris

MissB

ChrisJ wrote:

Pretty cheap...

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=87337&highlight=light

Chris

HA! thats brilliant...right up my alley for what I need. Thanks chris!

ChrisJ

MissB wrote:

HA! thats brilliant...right up my alley for what I need. Thanks chris!

Glad to help... hope it works for you!

This reminds me that I need to set it up again. The artwork is piling up!

Art Scott

I have a walk in light tent or room.....

Using pvc pipe I laid out what I wanted for size, approx 6 ft sq......made frame did not glue it all so I could tear it down and store......covered with white muslin sheets from Good Will, Salvation Army and other 2nd hand stores and then i place my lights outside of the tent,,,,,,,camera on tripod out side of front flaps of tent.....I can walk in and out and could if the need arises shoot some pretty big stuff......I use a white folding table from wally world as the base table.

MissB

Art Scott wrote:

I have a walk in light tent or room.....

Using pvc pipe I laid out what I wanted for size, approx 6 ft sq......made frame did not glue it all so I could tear it down and store......covered with white muslin sheets from Good Will, Salvation Army and other 2nd hand stores and then i place my lights outside of the tent,,,,,,,camera on tripod out side of front flaps of tent.....I can walk in and out and could if the need arises shoot some pretty big stuff......I use a white folding table from wally world as the base table.

sounds very effective and inexpensive...I bet the PVC makes it pretty adjustable. thank you for your input!!

TonyCooper

I needed a DIY lightbox with a rather different feature: I had to shoot straight down on the object. I was photographing about 100 gold coins front-and-back. Coins are very reflective. I used the same system to photograph some other highly reflective items: sterling silver flatware.

I bought a fairly large lampshade from Target for $9.95. It is "parchment" so the material is opaque enough to let light through. It was one piece, so there were no rib shadows.

I cut the harp out of the top with wire cutters and used a plastic shoebox top with a hole cut out to admit the lens. The shoebox top allows the camera to rest on it, and stabilizes the camera. I shoot with a 2 second time-delay to eliminate jiggle. The photographs are well lighted (cheap external utility lights) with no shadows. It's close-up photography, and the detail is excellent.

Most DIY lightbox suggestions are for shooting horizontal or at an angle to the object. This works for shooting vertical.

MissB

TonyCooper wrote:

I needed a DIY lightbox with a rather different feature: I had to shoot straight down on the object. I was photographing about 100 gold coins front-and-back. Coins are very reflective. I used the same system to photograph some other highly reflective items: sterling silver flatware.

I bought a fairly large lampshade from Target for $9.95. It is "parchment" so the material is opaque enough to let light through. It was one piece, so there were no rib shadows.

I cut the harp out of the top with wire cutters and used a plastic shoebox top with a hole cut out to admit the lens. The shoebox top allows the camera to rest on it, and stabilizes the camera. I shoot with a 2 second time-delay to eliminate jiggle. The photographs are well lighted (cheap external utility lights) with no shadows. It's close-up photography, and the detail is excellent.

Most DIY lightbox suggestions are for shooting horizontal or at an angle to the object. This works for shooting vertical.

that too is really creative!!! wow